Road maintenance programs are associated with maintaining the quality and safety of road pavement and the pavement surface. Numerous systems and programs have been devised that survey roads and determine whether any portions or areas are distressed. These systems can use technologies such as lasers, cameras, and radar to perform surface analysis.
For example, in a known system, ground-penetrating radar is used with mapping technology to assess conditions that could affect the road pavement and the surface life of the road to assess remaining service life. The system uses a lap-top computer along with a GPS receiver to track road locations on a region map and gather data about a previous service life rating, historic data on a segment of road, and previous repairs to the road surface.
In another known system, an automatic road analyzer is used to collect information on surface roughness, rutting, and cracking. The data is fed to a processor that identifies targets for both pavement preservation and rehabilitation fixes.
In yet another known system, an automated distress survey is used to assess pavement conditions and calculate crack density in defining an appropriate preventive maintenance treatment. Various sections of pavement that represent all treatment types, stress levels, and traffic volume are monitored in an effort to visually assess effectiveness of the preservation strategy.
The implementation of these systems and programs can be labor and time intensive. Because of shrinking budgets and declining infrastructure, road maintenance departments can be faced with the challenge of performing maintenance with fewer people. The cost to maintain a road maintenance system or program also involves expense of servicing maintenance vehicles and equipment which can strain budgets and prevent a system from being used at its full capacity.